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I am a company builder and operator focused on bringing new concepts to market that move the needle forward in the world.
  • Raised $6M to co-found real estate startup
  • Grew to 400+ units across 19 properties
  • Managed $70M in real estate
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business

Companies I've Started:

  • Restaurant: The Flaming Eggplant Cafe 

  • Coworking space: Impact Hub Seattle 

  • Coliving real estate: OpenDoor Coliving

Areas of Focus

  • Product: Improvements / Customer Traction

  • Go-to-Market: Rollout / BizDev / Partnerships

  • Operations: Systems / Staffing / Workflows

In 2013 I co-founded OpenDoor Coliving - a pioneer in the concept of professionally-run community housing. Starting by leasing a single home, we grew OpenDoor to operate over 400 units across 3 states, eventually constructing new buildings designed for community living.

My business partner Ben Provan and I lived in our houses for the first 5 years of the company, embedding ourselves in the the daily practice of living in community.​ Although our real estate properties were successful investments, we closed the operating company in December 2022 after a 9 year run.
 

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Consulting

I offer "co-founder as a service" to support on key projects that require someone with a range of skillsets and experience.

  • Concept + Program

  • Property diligence

  • Financial modeling

  • Project capitalization

  • Legal + compliance

  • Development + Construction

  • Asset Management

REal Estate
  • Customer Insights

  • Product Improvement

  • BizDev / B2B Sales

  • Enterprise Fundraising

  • New Market Rollout

  • Lean BizOps

  • General Management

Proptech
  • Real Asset Capitalization

  • Operations Design

  • Product Scaling

  • Multi-region Compliance

  • Automation & Efficiency

  • Hiring & Onboarding

  • Policies + Procedures

Climate tech
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creativity

Visual Art

I have been producing works on canvas, improvising with various methods. 

Flip through the gallery below:

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leadership

Outdoor Experience

40-day canoe expedition in northern Quebec and Labrador.
Keewaydin Section B, 2002
Age: 17
Distance: ~500km
A cluster of forest fires in exery direction blocked all routes while in Quebec, forcing us to use our satellite phone to call in an exacuation via float planes to Labrador.

75-day expedition in Western Australia 
National Outdoor Leadership School

Age: 20

Distance: ~800km

Travelled through the Kimberley region of north western Australia via canoe for 40 days, then backpacking without trails for 25 days, and 10 days on an island sharing stories with the local Bardi people.

40-day canoe expedition to Hudson's Bay 
Keewaydin Section A, 2003

Age: 18

Distance: ~600km
Paddled from Reindeer Lake in Saskatchewan into Nunavut lake-hopping to the Thlewiaza river which led us to Hudson's Bay. Picked up by Inuit team; skiff over ocean waves to Arviat where we flew to Churchill for the train.

 

7-day solo backpacking in Utah Canyonlands

Self-planned

Age: 35

Distance: ~60km

Did a solo out-and-back during a heat wave. Didn't see another person the whole time. Grazed heat exhaustion twice. 

my Feed

Where I share thoughts, experiences, ideas and projects.

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